The West Bengal government today earmarked another 64 acres of land for its Silicon Valley Tech Hub which has been set up to attract investment in IT/ITES/Telecom projects with employment potential. “We allotted 100 acres and it was filled up. Then we again allotted 100 acres and it too was filled up. Today, we approved another 64 acres for Silicon Valley. L&T has also bought land for setting up a centre here,” said chief minister Mamata Banerjee at the meeting of the West Bengal Industrial Promotion Board at Soujanya auditorium on Thursday. The state government is promoting the hub that is fast becoming a satellite city. In the Phase-I, the state government had allotted 100 acres and in the Phase-II another 100 acres. Now, 64 acres have been allotted for further extending the hub.

Apart from IT/ITES companies, the hub will focus on promoting data analysis, animation and gaming, cyber securities, drones, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and others. Miss Banerjee asserted that despite central funds being denied for 100 days job and road schemes, industry and employment are the priority areas for her government. Further, Miss Banerjee urged director Goutam Ghose to make a film regarding the development of Bengal, particularly in the social and industry sector during her government’s tenure for creating the right perception of the state among the common people. Chief secretary HK Dwivedi informed the industry people present at the meeting that West Bengal has surpassed Maharashtra to become the first in promotion of homestay tourism.

“The advertising agency performance is very poor when it comes to showcasing Bengal. We have as many as 64 social security schemes. So many industries are coming up. I will urge you to make a film in languages like Bengali, English, Hindi and Urdu showcasing the progress of Bengal so that the common people can see it. There have been attempts to create a bad perception of Bengal, so the film should focus on knowing Bengal properly,” Miss Banerjee said. “Telengana is running an advertising campaign but I tell you that the person featured in the advertisement desires to be the Prime Minister. We cannot spend so much like Telangana but the industry houses can lend support through CSR (corporate social responsibility) and the state government may also contribute and together, we can bear the cost of making such a film,” she said. She suggested booking slots in popular Bengali entertainment television channels for a certain period and arrange shows on creating the right perception about the state.